


Moving On

by sleepismyfriend



Category: Hart of Dixie
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-18
Updated: 2013-07-18
Packaged: 2017-12-20 13:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/888032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepismyfriend/pseuds/sleepismyfriend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Brick needs a copy of his divorce papers to marry Shelby, he makes the toughest phone call he's ever had to make. Little does he actually expect his ex-wife to appear in his office.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moving On

**Author's Note:**

> All canon facts about Alice come from 1x10 Hairdos and Holidays. Alice couldn't have gotten married again if she hadn't sought a divorce from Brick first, and somehow, I don't think Brick is one to have told Lemon about such things. Nor do I think he would wait 12 years before getting a divorce.
> 
> Magnolia gets little mention here, because Lemon has always been the one more affected by Alice's actions.

Having won the coin toss about who was not going to be working this weekend, Brick hears the tiny clicks of a pair of high heels coming down the hallway towards his office. If Zoe was coming back for round two, he was all set to share his old fraternity stories of perseverance in times of adversity. 

Even if it meant sharing more embarrassing details than he had originally planned, all is fair in work and war. 

The clicks grow closer, entering his office as his back remains to the door. Brick finishes the notations on Mrs. Anderson's file, and turns to face her.

"Zoe—" His voice fades, as the young doctor is not the one standing in front of him.

"Hello Brick." With her gloved hands tight around her purse straps, Alice's voice cracks under the gentlest of pressures. 

"Alice." Brick's jaw juts out before he closes his mouth, and swallows back the anger building in his throat. "What are you doing here?" 

"I was surprised when you called, really."

"And why's that, because you think I didn't know you live in Daphne now?" Brick tosses Mrs. Anderson's file onto the desk, and frowns. This is the last conversation he expected to have today. "You think I'm that dumb? That our girls are that dumb?"

"Of course not." Alice's voice lowers. "It was unexpected, that's all."

"Don't think for one second that I wanted to make that phone call. That I wanted to talk to your new husband, or the daughter that you haven't yet abandoned—" 

"I didn't come here to dredge up the past."

"Oh, yeah? Then why did you come here?" Brick takes several steps towards her, his fists clenching and unclenching. "You could have just as easily couriered the divorce papers over. It's not like couriers don't know how to drive ten miles. Did anyone see you come in here?"

Tears swarm Alice's eyes, as she shakes her head.

"I don't know."

"You're damn right you don't know. But, you better believe in about three hours, our daughters will. Bluebell isn't Mobile, Alice. People are seen and heard for far less than you slipping in here unannounced." Brick inhales, looking at his ex-wife, and trying not to unload the years of pent-up frustration. He turns away, rubbing the back of his neck, as he exhales. 

Alice opens her purse, pulling out a folded in three set of stapled papers. She holds them out, and Brick takes them. He leans against the edge of his desk, crossing his ankles.

"You're right. I should have never come here. I thought maybe after all this time—" She watches as he unfolds the papers, and sure enough, their signatures still line the bottom dissolving their marriage.

"What, that we had forgiven you?" His eyes lift from the papers, and a tear slips free from Alice's eye down one cheek that she wipes away. 

"I'm sorry," she says, looking away as Brick refolds the papers, and sets them to the side.

"Words I've heard a thousand times before," Brick sighs, staring down the floor as his shoulders curved forward. "And I'll hear a thousand times again." 

"What else do you want from me?"

"I want nothing from you. I have everything I ever needed in my girls, and Shelby." He stands, shoving his hands into his pockets, as Alice moves towards him.

"They're my girls, too." The anger shifts into Alice's tone, as she looks up, and the tears don't slip free. 

"Only when it's convenient." A pause. Then three enthusiastic knocks on the outside door alert them, as Zoe enters his office still donning her lab coat.

"Brick, I think I have you bested about this weekend—" Zoe begins with a waggly finger, though as soon as she sees Alice, her hand drops to her hip. "Though if you're with someone, I can come back."

"No, no, she was just leaving. Isn't that right?" Brick leads Alice by the arm towards the door. 

"Yes, thank you. Goodbye, Brick." Alice exits Brick's office, wiping her eyes once more. The older doctor remains in the doorway, and sighs at the sound of the front door closing. As he turns, he sees Zoe flipping through his divorce papers. 

"Is a doctor's office sacred no more?" He snatches the papers as soon as he's close enough, taking Zoe off guard as her mouth hangs open.

"Brick—" The end of his name is drawn out in a half whine. "Why didn't you tell me that was the infamous Alice Breeland? The absentee mother who Lemon has on a freaking pedestal half the time?"

"She's far from infamous," Brick replies. "Though I don't know how much the pedestal exists anymore."

"You know if Lemon finds out she's been here, she's going to Vesuvius all over Bluebell for the next three months. Think of the disaster crews Lavon will have to conjure." Zoe's wide hand motions don't go unnoticed, as Brick smirks. 

"Yeah."

"So, why was she here, anyway? You're not thinking—Of course not, because you're happy with Shelby, right? It is still Shelby, right?" Brick could almost see Zoe's dendrites firing at the speed of her words. He reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Dr. Hart. Snap out of it."

"Okay, snapping out of it. Snapped." Zoe shakes her head, her hair flipping back. She motions to the papers. "Does Lemon know about these?" 

"Who knows what Lemon knows anymore? For the longest time I thought she didn't know where her mother was. Turns out she did, and was tearing herself apart on the inside for months without telling anyone. It's not like these papers are new," Brick sighs, leaning against the edge of his desk. Zoe mimics his stance, leaning against the edge of the desk for herself, and crossing her arms. "I don't care what anyone says, Zoe. When you get married, your life becomes raveled with someone else's, and when divorce takes that single strand, and tries to make it two—" 

"You don't return to the original strand unscathed—I get it," Zoe says. 

"I made the toughest phone call I've ever had to make." Brick scans the papers, his thumbs tracing the edges. He once again sees her neatly curved signature below his.

"But in order to move forward with Shelby, you had to do it. You had to see Alice, and let her know once and for all that you and your daughters have moved on without her. You know what I think, Brick? I think Lemon likes to think that she got all of her strength and determination from her mother, but the truth is, I think she got both of those things from you. And, as much as you Breelands get on my nerves, you got the far better end of the deal."

"Yeah," Brick smiles. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Zoe nudges his shoulder. "Now—Can I have this weekend off?"

"Absolutely not," he replies as she stands, and turns. "I won fair and square." 

"Alright, alright." Zoe holds her hands up in defeat, as she exits. Brick smirks, and hears the front door of the office open as his name rings down the hall in a familiar voice. 

"Daddy—"


End file.
